Book 18 Chapter 26
Episode 142
Operation to Infiltrate the Bloodline Society: To Deceive the Enemy, First Deceive Your Allies (4)
"Whatever you plot, the outcome will not change. I shall engrave upon your lowly body what a difference in class truly means."
And just like that, with both sides firm in their resolve, for a mere 1 second!
Rista and Ryuminik charge forward, executing a true step, and the fierce battle begins anew!
The Blood Slaves form a cliff with their bodies, blocking their path, but Ryuminik's sunlight magic melts the Blood Slaves' bodies! Master!
'I'm sorry……'
Rista tightly closes her eyes from the tragedy and approaches even closer to the one she, as a hero, must defeat.
'5 more steps until I'm within Shirfen's range.'
Blood Slaves, now biological bombs, surge in massively from both sides, but this is also no problem. The hero party's mage constructs a barrier!
'4 steps.'
Repatra's blood drops fly, completely covering Rista's vision!
"A battlefield! A battlefield is good! Because it's a place where everything is judged by power!"
Against it, a single slash!
"You humans only distinguish between noble and base by bloodline, which is truly terrible! A society where the weak dominate the strong!"
An artistically perfect strike scatters the blood drops.
"Why do you possess such great power and not reign? Why do you not dominate? Why are you ruled and dominated as a mere soldier?"
The spattered blood (唾血) touched by the holy sword's gleam is purified and incinerated. Beauty!
'3 steps.'
Such an offense and defense, for those at the peak of power, is naturally just an opening skirmish.
What determines victory and defeat is close combat!
The bodies of Repatra's direct elite Blood Slaves (the more blood they are infused with from the Bloodline, the stronger they become) are oxidized by the holy sword's light in less than a second!
"Living beings are divided by class from birth, and this difference creates a gap. The strong are born to rule the weak!"
Defeating those who are used by the abyss even in death, Rista gritted her teeth again.
'2 steps.'
So fiercely that blood almost gushed from her molars' gums!
"On the day the Eternal Sovereign, Anlidal, awakens from profound slumber, that twisted order shall be rightly established; my mission exists for that glorious day when 'all stars shine red'!"
Finally, 1 step.
The sword-light flowing along Shirfen's blade brilliantly unfurls, slicing the very concept of time into twelve.
Time seeming to flow slowly on Rista's retina is because her concentration is accelerated by magic.
'1st strike, 2nd strike, 3rd strike, 4th strike, 5th strike, 6th strike.'
Again.
'1st strike, 2nd strike, 3rd strike, 4th strike, 5th strike, 6th strike.'
In that single instant—no, in a time so brief that even calling it "an instant" feels too long—12 consecutive strikes assail Repatra!
Repatra's body is unmoving.
She hasn't even realized she's been cut. Right now, she cannot comprehend that she is dead!
'Time begins to move again.'
In an instant, when the second hand of providence, which had stopped around this area, began to reactivate… Repatra's body being torn into countless pieces of flesh and drops of blood was a natural progression!
"……!"
Yet, at that moment when victory seemed assured, cold sweat beaded on Rista's brow.
Explosion!
The byproducts of the body, severed and scattered by the holy sword's gleam, exploded!
"I naturally anticipated that you would charge at me."
What kind of suicide attack is this!
An explosion dozens of times more powerful than that of a Blood Slave!
Was it aiming for mutual destruction? No!
"Even breaking through my army and reaching me. I anticipated it, but I admit I was honestly surprised."
Repatra's voice is heard!
From where?
From back there! That far back! Repatra's body had regressed almost to infancy. Because she had created a doppelganger.
'It wasn't a hallucination. She actually split her body into two. That's why I didn't recognize her!'
At the moment of the explosion, Rista let Shirfen slip from her grasp! Had she given up the fight?
No! Watch her immediately strike down with the hilt with all her might!
Shirfen passionately idles in the air. That pinwheel of light blocks 99% of the explosion! Master! A truly unbelievable combat genius!
"You blocked my trump card, so now you think you can catch me easily… Is that what you thought?"
A mocking voice.
"Neither on land, nor in the air, nor underground!"
Rista sensed a shadow, darker than pitch black, looming over her head.
Is that all!
Below the sandy ground flowing at her feet, countless hands and faces surge upward!
"There is no escape anywhere!"
It was an army of blood!
"I confirmed through our engagement that you can transcend the moment of time. And also what its range is!"
Tens of thousands of Blood Slaves, piling their bodies like towers from all sides and then pouring down, was truly a nightmare itself!
"Even if you execute a true step somewhere, you won't be able to escape from the gaps in these Blood Slaves and are bound to explode! This is the end, Hero!"
At that moment, Ryuminik fiercely stomped the ground with his right foot.
"Ultimate Technique: Sun Dance Scenery."
Instantly, a wave of sunlight spreads widely across the ground, forming a circular array, and a rune-like shape is engraved at its center.
This is Ryuminik's Ultimate Technique!
The power of the One-Yang Sundisc is exerted by flowing solar magic into the target's pressure point (點穴). The drawback is that it requires a direct strike.
"No matter how cunning the Bloodline may be, it's nothing before the power of the sun!"
However, within this circular array of Sun Dance Scenery, within this domain devised by Ryuminik, there is no need to directly strike the opponent's pressure points.
The domain recognizes the master's movements!
Beams of magical light extend from his fingertips, making it possible to remotely strike the target's pressure points! This one is also a crazy master!
'I have to use it…!'
As the pressure points pierced hearts, and the Blood Slaves melted instantly, Rista, holding Shirfen in a reverse grip, aligned it with the horizon.
'…Spacetime Slash!'
The Spacetime Slash possessed a power that made even great beings tremble, but its preparation time served as a fatal flaw.
Ryuminik is a master.
He is neutralizing Blood Slaves with a single, lightning-fast pressure point strike! One might think it's enough to buy some time, even if just for a moment.
"I offer these two upon the altar for the 'Day of Eternity'!"
But, but!
"Eternal Lord of Time, please joyfully accept these offerings!"
The sheer number of these Blood Slaves, pouring down almost like a deluge! Isn't it utterly unrealistic!
Truly a crimson feast!
Blood Slaves, their vital energy at its peak, burning red, their eyes glinting in the darkness as despair draws ever closer!
'Time is…!'
Rista thought.
The Spacetime Slash is bound to be late.
'It's not even a close call. It will definitely be late.'
And if caught in that explosion, not only Ryuminik's life but her own would not be guaranteed!
However!
Nevertheless!
Rista does not withdraw the power of the Spacetime Slash! Space-time begins to ripple around Repatra, barely visible through the gaps in the Blood Slaves!
"Hahahaha! Despair? You can bet everything you have. My Blood Slaves' explosion will swallow you before that power manifests!"
Only 0.3 seconds remain until the explosion! But Rista remains in the stance for Spacetime Slash!
She had not, by any means, given up!
She had simply believed!
In her comrade, the hero party's mage!
In the boy who would leave his name in history as a rare genius, becoming synonymous with "genius cut short" instead of the Six Great Archmage Zernix!
'Constructing a coordinate plane in 3D in my mind.'
The mathematical calculations happening in Rin's mind were pure madness!
If an ordinary person looked at it, it would be nothing but meaningless scribbles, and if a genius peeked, they would surely go mad.
The frantic flow of equations and calculations of power, understandable and interpretable only by the boy, clearly altered providence!
'Interpreting an explosion as a point, calculating the coordinates where it's about to occur.'
Though he had never mastered hyper-dimensional magic, the geometric knowledge he had passionately pursued since childhood, accompanied by Dean Atlante, now shone brightly here!
The atmosphere freezes, crimson!
More precisely, at the very moment the explosion was about to occur, at the coordinates where it would begin… this power, freezing the hearts of tens of thousands of Blood Slaves, was no longer in the realm of magic, but closer to a divine skill!
"!"
"!"
"!"
The pupils of the three powerhouses, unable to comprehend the cause of this phenomenon and merely witnessing it, trembled!
How could they not tremble!
The blood explosion that enveloped Rista and Ryuminik, more than enough to completely incinerate the entire area! At that moment! It was thwarted by countless crimson ice crystals that instantly appeared in the air!
'What the…?'
Trapped within crimson ice crystals, manifested as such due to a device distorting magical power through Bloodline dark arts, was the core of the explosion! The explosion itself was sealed before it could occur!
'What happened…?'
What was required for this phenomenon was nothing less than a triple casting of 5th-tier magic!
In short, it was magic where at least 15 runes exerted power, and the mere fact that it was assembled and used in an instant would be enough to rewrite magic history multiple times over.
But the boy was not satisfied with that.
'Rune Engraving Alteration.'
The next moment, the ice crystals linked together, piercing and penetrating Repatra's body countless times, fixing her in place! Directly onto the trajectory of the Spacetime Slash!
What a genius!
What a mad genius!
What a ridiculously mad genius!
What pierced her body froze her skin tissue, causing a momentary delay in Repatra's attempt to transform her body into a swarm of bats.
"Spacetime Slash─────!"
The moment that momentary delay occurred, spacetime, already shaking violently enough to make one's head spin, began to split, fracture, and shatter!
Nothing can stop it.
Whether natural or artificial barriers stood in the way, they offered no concealment against the fracturing of spacetime!
"──────Ughhhhhh!"
As tens of thousands of Blood Slaves and most of Repatra's body were sucked into that spacetime rift… Rin rolled his eyes back, nose bleeding, and collapsed.
Overload of power.
Was it providence's retribution for venturing beyond the realm permitted to mortals!
His brain truly burned white; biologically speaking, nearly 20% of the neurons making up his brain were damaged.
"Haa, haa, haa……"
Though it seemed like a prolonged struggle, this battle lasted but an instant. During that single instant, Rista, having poured out her full power multiple times, collapsed as if leaning on Shirfen.
'I'm sorry……'
It was a backlash from the overuse of power, and at the same time, stemmed from the helplessness of having to incinerate the Blood Slaves beyond spacetime without proper burial rites.
"Huh, wait!"
At that moment, Ryuminik shouted.
Repatra! Repatra was still alive, wasn't she?!
Even more coincidentally, Rin lay unconscious at the spot where she had fallen. Dangerous!
"Rin…!"
Rista immediately tried to stand, using Shirfen like a staff, but her knees buckled weakly.
Repatra reached out her hand!
When the Bloodline creates a Blood Slave, the time it takes to pierce the carotid artery in the neck is but an instant.
"……No!"
Ryuminik also immediately executed a true step, but it would be too late.
He too was in a state of exhaustion from using his Ultimate Technique, so his true step could not exert its full leaping power.
Amidst those several moments of delay, Repatra's hand reached Rin!
Is this how this story ends?
No, something is strange.
"If you regain consciousness later, have no guilt, no self-reproach. For I have already forgiven you."
Repatra's hand was not on Rin's carotid artery, but on his head, and the last remnants of her body, what could be called flesh, were transforming into bats.
"Go, remember the command I left for you. It will be the first and last command… but I am satisfied to have freed you."
And wasn't she lifting Rin into the air, trying to take him somewhere far away?
"Ah, if only I had been granted the time to teach you about the dignity of the Bloodline…"
Even Repatra's last remaining body transformed into bats, trying to add power to Rin's traction, but there was no way that scheme would succeed.
A torrent of sunlight!
Ryuminik's magic, the pressure points at his fingertips, melted away the entire swarm of bats that were the last vestiges of Pale Baron Repatra.
"……"
"……"
"……"
It was a death too quiet and hollow to befit a ruler of the Bloodline, but in any case, that was the end.
The reason this could be stated with such certainty was that tens of thousands of Blood Slaves, who had remained until this moment, began to collapse onto the sandy ground like puppets with severed strings.
Blood Slaves are freed when their blood master, the Bloodline, dies.
"Oof."
Ryuminik caught Rin, who was falling from the sky, in both hands.
"What, he's asleep."
The boy was soundly asleep, to an extent that made it hard to believe he was the sorcerer who had just used incomprehensible power.
"This fellow, what a happy dream he must be having."
When Ryuminik gave Rista a thumbs-up, indicating Rin was safe, Rista collapsed onto the sand in relief.
[Rista, Rista! We're coming your way now! Don't overexert yourself!]
Fride's urgent cry came through the transceiver. It hadn't been audible until now due to the state of extreme concentration.
"No, Fride. It's all over."
[What?]
"We've subjugated one Pale Baron. Thanks to Rin. Lord Ryuminik also helped a lot."
Stating the outcome was easy, but the process was truly cruel and incomparably arduous.
"The Pale Baron… was an incredibly formidable foe. So, this is the kind of power one gains by becoming a leader of the Bloodline, the demon race with the fewest individuals?"
Also, in front of the rift where spacetime had fractured, a gigantic [King's Flesh] was writhing.
As if the flesh collected from the Akrad continent had been merely an overture to chaos…
[You're badly hurt, aren't you? I know without you saying. We're coming, so just wait a little.]
At that moment, Rista.
Was not worried about her body, which she had pushed to its limits.
"Yes, please hurry, Fride."
She simply shed tears of mourning, gazing at the countless pitiful and sad deaths strewn around.
"Here, there are so many sad souls for you to pray for…"